Alchemy
Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Egypt and Eurasia which aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble" ones (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease; and the development of an alkahest, a universal solvent. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and, in the Hellenistic and western tradition, the achievement of gnosis. (leading to people associating them with gnostics, though they were not quite the same) In Europe, the creation of a philosopher's stone was variously connected with all of these projects. While they did want to be able to create gold, for many this was also a metaphor for enlightenment, and revealing the hidden light within mankind. Alchemy, though an early form of what would later become chemistry (note that chemist is alchemist with the first two letters taken off) was also a spiritual practice. Transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection. And alchemists often believed that finding out how to transform parts of the world would lead to knowing how to transform and improve the self, and to lead to a higher inner spirituality. Turning things into gold as revealing the hidden inner light in nature, and thus could lead to knowing how to reveal the inner light of your soul. In this sense it could also be considered an early loose realization of psychology, for realizing that the mind worked based on physical properties. Note that alchemy in the western sense, despite being depicted as an esoteric doctrine was still done within a roughly abrahamic paradigm, and had an understanding of the world that revolved around it. Hermeticism is an esoteric tradition based primarily upon writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. It stems from the idea that a hidden true theology exists in all religions that was given by god to man in antiquity, and is a combination of the ideas of astrology, alchemy, and magic, strongly influencing the later ideas of these topics, and of esoteric traditions in general. While hermeticism is only directly mentioned in persona, figures like crowley who show up in the games had affiliations with hermetic groups, and alchemy which shows up in it implicitly implies ties to it. Carl Jung was interested in alchemy, and considered it a preservation of the gnostic tendency that led to modern psychology. Their philosophy also revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God. Since alchemists focused heavily on the relation between the physical and the mental and thought people were an analogue of the world at large, jung saw this as this the beginning of seeing the mind as continuous with science rather than exempt from it. And considered the spiritual elements of their practice Although alchemy taken literally obviously fell out of favor, its depiction in megaten does correspond to one of its more humanist modern messages about spiritual fulfillment in ways that don't entirely rely on revealed religion. Since its existence was basically a way to tie science to spirituality at first, and in this sense can be used as a symbol of a more grounded earthly spirituality. Of course by modern standards some aspects of it were still rather spiritual, but even so. It doesn't show up often in megaten, but it does show up in a few places that give it a semi central location. Transmutation means to change the raw form or substance of a compound. It was a common term used in alchemy. The philosopher's stone, or stone of the philosophers (Latin: lapis philosophorum) is a legendary alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (chrysopoeia, from the Greek χρυσός khrusos, "gold," and ποιεῖν poiēin, "to make") or silver. It is also able to extend one's life and called the elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and for achieving immortality; for many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal in alchemy. The philosopher's stone was the central symbol of the mystical terminology of alchemy, symbolizing perfection at its finest, enlightenment, and heavenly bliss. Efforts to discover the philosopher's stone were known as the Magnum Opus ("Great Work"). It shows up as an item in shin megami tensei imagine. Macrocosm / Microcosm is a Greek compound of μακρο- "Macro-" and μικρο- "Micro-," which are Greek respectively for "large" and "small," and the word κόσμος kósmos which means "order" as well as "world" or "ordered world." The paired concept of Macrocosm and Microcosm presents the idea that there is a corresponding similarity in pattern, nature, or structure between human beings and the universe. The concept of microcosm/macrocosm views man as a smaller representation of the universe and the universe as a somewhat anthropomorphic existence. This concept is found throughout the history of thought from ancient times through the renaissance, and in various religious traditions including the Upanishads. Similar concepts were held by hermetic philosophers like Paracelsus, and by Baruch Spinoza, Leibniz, and later by Friedrich Schelling. The macrocosm/microcosm schema was also developed further by the Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus, who proposed that within man was an inner heaven with stars. Paracelsus's philosophy of correspondences was based upon the belief that for every ailment and illness in Man (the microcosm) there existed a cure in nature (the macrocosm). This leads to the idea of: Anima mundi. the alchemists who referred to the spiritual essence of the world as the anima mundi, the “Soul of the World.” They regarded the World Soul as a pure ethereal spirit diffused throughout all nature, the divine essence that embraces and energizes all life in the universe. The alchemists continued to explore the anima mundi. While the Church looked for light in the heavens, the alchemists sought the light hidden in matter. They understood that there was a sacred essence in the fabric of creation, which through their experiments and imagination they worked to release. For the alchemists the anima mundi is the divine spark in matter, the “philosophical Mercury,” which is the “universal and scintillating fire in the light of nature, which carries the heavenly spirit with it.” Alchemy is concerned with turning lead into gold, liberating the light hidden in the darkness—“the fiery sparks of the world soul, i.e. the light of nature … dispersed or sprinkled throughout the structure of the great world into all fruits of the elements everywhere.”The alchemists also understood that there is a connection between the anima mundi and the soul or innermost secret of man. The source of the wisdom and knowledge of the all-pervading essence of the anima mundi was “the innermost and most secret numinosum of man.” Obviously as a world soul in general, then one can associate this with the great will in megaten. Especially since with the microcosm and macrocosm distinction, people themselves seem to be being depicted as tiny parts of it. Alkahest is a hypothetical universal solvent, having the power to dissolve every other substance, including gold. It was much sought after by alchemists for what they thought would be its invaluable medicinal qualities. A potential problem involving alkahest is that, if it dissolves everything, then it cannot be placed into a container because it would dissolve the container. However, the alchemist Philalethes specifies that alkahest dissolves only composed material into their constituent, elemental, parts. The great chain of being is a strict hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought in medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain starts with God and progresses downward to angels, demons (fallen/renegade angels), stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles, commoners, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals and other minerals. It has to do with categories, saying that the lowest existence such as rocks has mere existence, plants have motion, and each higher category is seen as more advanced having greater being. Individual categories had their own subcategories as well. It was generally considered impossible to change the position of an object in the hierarchy. This gave context to why kings were seen as divinely chosen, with why commoners thought challenging them was off limits. One reason alchemy was viewed with suspicion was because it was working to see if it could indeed change the position of things in this hierarchy, such as turning base materials into gold, to reflect the light within. Alchemy was also seen as potentially able to give humans unnatural abilities. A homunculus (Latin for "little man", plural: "homunculi"; from the masculine diminutive form of homo, "man") is a representation of a small human being that is artificially created by some alchemic means. Popularized in sixteenth century alchemy and nineteenth century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. Various means were undergone to result in something like this, due to the assumption that it would give understanding and control over he mysteries of life. Note that doctor victor in raidou seems to be based on victor frankenstein from the book frankenstein. The book frankenstein often talked about alchemy, with the monster likely being meant to be an example of a homunculus. In game, doctor victor does deal with artificial humans too, such as the robot rasputin. And you can even go to him for sword alchemy, showing that in-game there is an association being drawn between the spiritual and physical elements of the world in an alchemic sense. Since victor in soul hacker later on is implied to be immortal, the implication may be that he ultimately mastered alchemy. The panacea, named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy Panakeia, Panacea, also known as panchrest,needed was supposed to be a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. It was sought by the alchemists as a connection to the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone, a mythical substance which would enable the transmutation of common metals into gold. Although not an item in megaten games it shows up in a lot of rpgs. Suns are employed to symbolize a variety of concepts, much like the sun in astrology. Suns can correspond to gold, citrinitas, generative masculine principles, imagery of 'the king' or Apollo, the fiery spirit or sulfur, the divine spark in man, nobility, or incorruptibility. Recurring images of specific solar motifs can be found in the form of a "Dark" or "Black Sun", or a green lion devouring a sun. Note that due to the ultimate centrality of gold, seen as the perfection of physical reality, the sun was among the most used alchemic symbols. Sol niger (black sun) can refer to the first stage of the alchemical magnum opus, the nigredo (blackening) / or dissolution. In a text ascribed to Marsilio Ficino three suns are described: black, white, and red, corresponding to the three most used alchemical color stages. Of the sol niger he writes: The black sun is used to illuminate the dissolution of the body, a blackening of matter, or putrefaction in Splendor Solis, and Johann Daniel Mylius’s Philosophia Reformata. The black sun shows up in digital devil saga, where it ultimately begins the dissolution of the world, in keeping with the symbolism. A black sun or eclipse also shows up in the true demon ending, though it is not clear whether that is meant to be an alchemic reference. Elemental spirits. Paracelsus believed that each of the four classical elements– earth, water, air and fire– is inhabited by different categories of elemental spirits, liminal creatures that share our world: gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders respectively. He describes these elementals as the "invisible, spiritual counterparts of visible Nature... many resembling human beings in shape, and inhabiting worlds of their own, unknown to man because his undeveloped senses were incapable of functioning beyond the limitations of the grosser elements." Note here that those four entities show up as the four highest members of the element race above the more generic aquans, etc. While the lower ones seem to be names made up in megaten for generic spiritual essence of elements, their description implies them to be a primal form of the higher elemental spirits. And in game you can fuse two elements for a mitama. Mitama are not from alchemy but from shinto, but there is an undertone here of how the alchemic nature spirits underly association with the world and soul and how proper interaction can effect your soul. Note also that this seems to imply spirits of various forms present in all matter of everyting. And as pointed out in strange journey, megaten spirits seem to exist for everything. And both these and humans exist as sub parts of the anima mundi, corresponding to the great will. You can even make an argument for fusion in general having to do with alchemic changing of matter kinds. Though the games only do this for sword alchemy. In general though, this placing of alchemic entities in this central role implies a very alchemic worldview in the games. Ouroboros. It is found in Gnosticism and alchemy representing cyclical natural life and the fusion of opposites. It also symbolizes the transcendence of duality and was related to the solar God Abraxas, and signified eternity and the soul of the world. The depiction of ouroboros found in strange journey among other games was taken from alchemical drawings. In alchemy, it represents the spirit of Mercury (the substance that permeates all matter), and symbolizes continuous renewal (a snake is often a symbol of resurrection, as it appears to be continually reborn as it sheds its skin.), the cycle of life and death, and harmony of opposites. As a symbol of the eternal unity of all things, the cycle of birth and death from which some alchemist sought release and liberation. It unites opposites: the conscious and unconscious mind. Alchemically, the ouroboros is also used as a purifying glyph. The alchemical textbook, Chrysopoeia (gold making) of Kleopatra contains a drawing of the ouroboros representing the serpent as half light and half dark, echoing symbols such as the Yin Yang, which illustrates the dual nature of all things, but more importantly, that these opposites are not in conflict. The book is mainly centered around the idea of 'one is all,' a concept that is related to hermetic wisdom. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy: The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima materia of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feed-back' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality, since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites, and he therefore constitutes the secret of the prima materia which ... unquestionably stems from man's unconscious. Various other symbols were used in alchemy for the nuances of what they believed they could accomplish. Being an early form of chemistry they did actually make some real scientific progress, though detailing what and how much, and what the nuances of various practices they did is not necessarily important to do here. The interesting thing being that alchemy loosely grew out of an earlier mystical magical mindset, and so some practitioners saw it as magical, or led to outsiders seeing it as magical, even when just finding and participating in scientific processes. The fact that many of the symbols call to mind magical ones, and that it was depicted as related to mysticism added to this association. But as it went on, some even developed early versions of an analogue of the periodic table. The Count of St. Germain was a European adventurer, with an interest in science and the arts. He achieved prominence in European high society of the mid-1700s. Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel considered him to be "one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived". He claimed that he had used alchemy to unlock the secret to eternal life, and was over 300 years old. Stories about him have been common even since that time, with people claiming that he is still around today, wandering around as an immortal. In megaten Saint Germain is a quest giver and a character in the series. Who was confirmed in an interview to be an immortal transcended being.